Fortress
by Klutzygirl33
Summary: Alex is tired of walking in on Callie crying in the on call room, so he decides to confront Arizona to hopefully get through to her.


**Disclaimer**: I don't own Grey's Anatomy and never will. No copyright infringement intended.

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After Alex walked in on Callie crying in the on call room again, he snapped and decided to confront Arizona. Everyone knew of the anger that the blonde harbored for her wife after a few of them - including the gossiping nurses – heard Arizona go off on Callie right after she woke up from surgery with her leg gone. So he decided that he had enough and decided that it was time to talk to Arizona.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Arizona glared at Alex when he stepped into her room and just stared at her.

"Callie left me in. I want to talk to you."

"Well, I have nothing to say to you so get the fuck out of my apartment or I'll call the cops on you for trespassing." She was deadly serious about that threat and would go through with it if he didn't leave. She didn't want to see him.

"Sorry, no can do. Besides, did you just miss the part where I said Callie left me in? That means I wasn't trespassing, so sorry about your luck." He grinned at her, hoping the bait would work. It did.

"Fine. What do you want?" She didn't want to listen to a word he had to say, but Arizona would let him say his piece and then kick him out.

"You need to stop feeling sorry for yourself, Arizona. I am sick and tired of walking in on your wife crying in the on call room because she's upset! Do you know how many times that has happened? Do you realize how badly you're hurting her?"

"Fuck you, Karev. I don't care how upset she is." That was a lie, but he didn't need to know that. Arizona wasn't going to let him have that satisfaction.

He rolled his eyes. "I know it feels like you've hit rock bottom, but you can climb back up, you know? You don't have to lie in bed all day and cry either. You have a daughter that needs her mama! Sofia lost her dad. Isn't that important to you?"

Arizona was seeing red and she decided to hit Alex where it hurt. Who was he to tell her what to do? "Aw, Alex, are you feeling guilty? Do you feel bad for cutting off my leg? For me getting on that plane when you betrayed me? This is still your fault, you know. So why don't you go fuck some intern to feel good about yourself and try not to think about the wife you drove away with your attitude. Go fuck yourself."

Alex tried not to let that affect him, although it did hurt. He understood that Arizona was doing it on purpose, however. "Sorry, doesn't bother me. I know what you're doing. Arizona, I know you're hurting. I understand that, but Callie and Sofia need you. This doesn't have to end your life. You can still work, get prosthesis. Plenty of people have been in the same situation you have. And I know you can't see a way out right now, but there is one. You just have to work for it. And you're probably depressed, but that's understandable. You need to get help. If not for you, for Sofia. Or Callie. Just think about it, okay? I've said what I wanted to." He hoped he had been able to get through to her. He was partially hoping she'd burst into tears and admit that he was right, but that was a naïve wish.

She stared at him and watched as he walked away. Arizona took his words in and went over them multiple times just to figure out if he had an agenda. He hadn't – Alex was just genuinely concerned about her and what her actions were doing to Callie and Sofia. That was it.

And while Alex hadn't been able to get through to Arizona fully, he had broken through the fortress she had created as a defense mechanism just a little bit. Hitting rock bottom and climbing back out wasn't going to be easy.

It would be awhile before Arizona was back on her feet, but for now, the stone cold bitch persona would stay until her defenses were cracked just a little bit more. And she would thank Alex for his talk eventually, but not yet.

Neither would ever bring up the fact that they had cried after that conversation since it was something they wanted to keep to themselves. Alex was always going to feel guilty that Arizona had been on the plane instead of him, and she would hold a grudge against them for a long time, even after she forgave Callie and Alex.

It would take everyone a long time to heal and recover from the plane crash that had sent them spiraling into a new reality they couldn't escape from.


End file.
